Another year passed.
Countless News Coos flew out from the headquarters and branches of the World Economy News Paper. Whenever they spotted an island or ship with signs of human life, they would actively drop newspapers.
People knew that something major had happened.
Opening the thick newspaper, they saw that the headline featured the face of a bearded man.
The title read: [Pirate King - Gold Roger.] (T/N: It's written Gol D. Roger, but from what I know, Marine is using Gold Roger not Gol D. Roger.)
The newspaper article stated:
According to their newspaper's reliable sources, the Roger Pirates had successfully circumnavigated the Grand Line and reached the legendary island of Raftel, thereby earning the title [Pirate King]. (T/N: The RAW is written as Laugh Tale, but even we only know the name is Laugh Tale after more than 900 chapters.)
Seeing this report, Yu was very dissatisfied.
"What is the Roger Pirates? How dare they call themselves kings?"
Although Makoto was called the [King of the World], and Roger was only the [Pirate King], which sounded far inferior to Makoto's title, Yu, as Makoto's top confidant, felt that Roger daring to call himself a king without Makoto's permission was the height of disrespect.
Although Yu's reasoning was somewhat shaky, the girls also expressed confusion.
Erina asked curiously, "What is on that island called Raftel? Why does going there make someone king?"
The other girls were also puzzled.
After all, in their eyes, to claim kingship, one should do what Makoto did… force the strongest of the era to submit, or possess powerful military forces or wealth that others couldn't match. Only then would one be qualified to be called king.
If Roger had defeated fellow pirates like Whitebeard, Shiki, and Kaido, that would be one thing.
But just finding an island? How did that suddenly make him king?
Was there some secret on that island capable of changing the world's balance?
Makoto also found it amusing.
Indeed, even from an omniscient perspective, the way Roger became Pirate King seemed too arbitrary.
He didn't know what Roger found on Raftel, but just reaching that island made him king. It felt like a weak justification.
But since Whitebeard, Shiki, and the others acknowledged it, Makoto couldn't be bothered to interfere.
Then, Nayuta, sitting on Makoto's lap, turned the newspaper to the second page.
Another breaking news: The Roger Pirates had officially disbanded.
This surprised everyone again.
In their view, although the way Roger became Pirate King was somewhat dubious, there was no doubt that the Roger Pirates were currently at their peak. Why would they suddenly disband?
Makoto calmly said, "Roger doesn't have long to live. He probably plans to use his remaining time to act alone and do something."
Hearing this, Gloriosa couldn't help but ask, "Roger doesn't have long to live?"
Makoto nodded. "Didn't he recruit the world's top doctor, Crocus, a year ago? That was to extend his lifespan as much as possible."
For a moment, Gloriosa fell silent.
Although she had long since been 'shaped' by Makoto, she had once had feelings for Roger.
Suddenly hearing that he wouldn't live much longer made her feel inexplicably complicated.
Turning to the third page, the newspaper was still reporting on the Roger Pirates… stating that after disbanding, the crew members of the Roger Pirates went their separate ways.
And the Marine planned to seize this opportunity to fully hunt them down.
It also mentioned that Rayleigh had returned to the Giant Kingdom of Elbaf.
This made Shakky secretly click her tongue.
Those who understood, understood why Rayleigh went to Elbaf.
Makoto said with a smile, "I wonder if Ripley is pregnant yet."
At these words, Shakky's face darkened even more.
After reading the newspaper, everyone's discussion focused on the Roger Pirates.
Yamato, remembering what Makoto had just said, asked him, "Old man, you just said that after disbanding the Roger Pirates, Roger is going to do something on his own. What is he going to do?"
At these words, everyone's attention was drawn.
Makoto smiled and asked Yamato back, "What do you think a man does when he's about to die?"
Hearing this topic, not only Makoto's subordinates and the female players but even Kaido, King, and others not far away couldn't help but join the discussion.
King thought for a moment and said, "Kill all his enemies."
As a member of the Lunaria Tribe, he had suffered greatly from the World Government's experiments.
If he knew he was about to die, King would certainly use his last breath to storm the World Government, killing as many as he could.
Queen said lewdly, "He'd definitely find a bunch of women and have a good time."
King looked at Queen with disdain. "That's the extent of your vision."
However, Makoto pointed at Queen and said with a smile, "You got it right."
At these words, all the girls present showed looks of disdain, 'Good grief, so this was the Pirate King's character?'
Queen, however, was delighted.
'Good grief, my thoughts were the same as the Pirate King's. Didn't that mean I was practically the Pirate King?'
Kaido took a swig of sake and asked curiously, "So he's going to the Pleasure Quarter?"
The Pleasure Quarter was arguably the most popular red-light district among pirates.
Many pirates went there to relieve their urges whenever they had time.
"I don't think so. The Marine probably thought of that too and would have people lying in wait for him there."
Shakky said, lighting a cigarette. But remembering that Makoto didn't like the smell of smoke, she immediately put out the cigarette she had just lit and crushed it with her foot.
Makoto continued, "It's not just about relieving urges. In nature, it's also very normal for a male, about to die, to want to leave his offspring in the world."
At these words, everyone was startled again.
"S-surely not?"
Yukino couldn't help but join the discussion, her brow furrowed, her tone carrying a hint of disbelief.
"He's about to die..."
Although she knew that in animals, when injured, aging, or near death, hormones are sharply activated, creating an urgent desire to leave offspring,
But that's animals, not humans.